Business warns against COVID-style office exodus if working from home needed to save fuel

Australia must avoid a COVID-style shutdown of offices, the Business Council of Australia says, while conceding that some workers may need to work from home to conserve fuel in response to the global oil shock.

Council chief executive Bran Black – who represents more than 100 of Australia’s largest companies – said on Monday that remote working should only be considered in the coming weeks for those who can’t commute on public transport or who can’t afford fuel.

“If we can sensibly reduce our consumption by utilising public transport, let’s do that. If there are employees who aren’t able to use public transport, then they’re going to have different arrangements required,” Black told reporters at Parliament House on Monday, adding that it was important that employees continued to work from the office to support small businesses.

The International Energy Agency on Friday made sweeping recommendations for reductions to fuel consumption in response to the ongoing war in the Middle East. Those recommendations included the promotion of working from home, an uptake of public transport, the reduction of speed limits by 10km/h, and a limiting of air travel where possible.

Speaking to the National Press Club on Monday, agency chief Fatih Birol said the recommendations were a set of options governments could pick from, but that moves to curb fuel consumption were ultimately necessary.

“In some countries, we have to do it immediately. In some countries, we have to wait and see. And if there was a peaceful solution to the problem, [the] Strait of Hormuz is open, then we may say that this is not needed any more. But I think this is a cautionary measure,” Birol said.

“It is up to [Energy Minister Chris Bowen] and the prime minister and the other leaders to choose [from the agency’s recommendations], but we put all the options. The menu of the options on the table is up to them to choose, and of course, up to the society whether or not they will pick it up.”

Birol was set to meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday afternoon.

The government has remained reluctant to implement any of the agency’s recommendations. Instead, Labor has been repeatedly calling for an end to panic buying, arguing demand is the issue, not supply.

However, the Albanese government appeared to soften its message over the weekend, as Bowen announced at least six of the 80 impending shipments of oil to Australia had been cancelled.

“Work from home has become an important part of Australian working life. And again, I think some people would already be doing that. There are other people for whom it’s not an option. And I think people would already be looking at their options to minimise their fuel use,” Bowen told the ABC on Sunday.

A government spokesperson told this masthead that there had been no changes to current working arrangements in the public service, but that flexible work arrangements did exist in enterprise agreements.

“These arrangements give agencies and employees the flexibility to work out what suits both the role and individual circumstances,” the spokesperson said.

Black repeatedly called for a “sensible and smart” approach on Monday, arguing that a mass move to working from home would curb foot traffic, thereby hurting small businesses.

“There are similarities to the COVID circumstances that we experienced some years ago, but there are also differences. The similarities are that we’ve got supply chain challenges. The differences are, you don’t need to socially isolate.”

Assistant Minister for Workplace Relations Patrick Gorman said on Monday that the government remained confident Australians could continue to consume fuel “as they normally would”.

“What we know when it comes to work from home is that work from home is already part of the Australian story,” Gorman said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns denied the country was in a fuel crisis, and dismissed suggestions his state’s public servants should work from home.

“Eighty-five per cent of the NSW public service don’t work from home under any circumstances. They’re in some cases, doctors, nurses, paramedics, police officers, teachers. There is no working from home,” Minns told ABC Sydney on Monday.

“If we were to put a mandate in place, I think it would give false hope that in some way we’re making a major change to workflow habits, when, in actual fact, it doesn’t make a difference.”

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